The first interview in Arabic
The HR office of a small firm in Arabic. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «تفضل, اجلس. حدث عن نفسك أولا.» — Please, sit down. Tell about yourself first; «شكرا. درست الهندسة وعندي خبرة عمل سنتين.» — Thank you. I trained as an engineer and have two years of work experience. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the HR office of a small firm. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- تفضل, اجلس. حدث عن نفسك أولا.тафаддаль, иджлис. хаддис ʿан нафсик аввальан.Please, sit down. Tell about yourself first.
- شكرا. درست الهندسة وعندي خبرة عمل سنتين.шукран. дэрасту аль-хандаса ва-ʿиндии хибрат ʿамаль санатаин.Thank you. I trained as an engineer and have two years of work experience.
- لماذا تبحث عن عمل جديد؟лимааза табхасу ʿан ʿамаль джадид؟Why are you looking for a new job?
- أريد مهامّ أكبر ومسار مهني أوضح.урииду махиамм акбар ва-масаар михний абхад.I want bigger tasks and a clearer career path.
- فترة تجريبية ثلاثة أشهر. هل تناسبك؟фитра таджриибийя саляасат ашхур. халь тунаасибук؟The trial period is three months. Does it suit you?
- تناسبني. متى أبدأ؟тунаасибуни. матаа абдаʾ؟It suits me. When do I start?
Lines one by one
| Arabic | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| تفضل, اجلس. حدث عن نفسك أولا. | тафаддаль, иджлис. хаддис ʿан нафсик аввальан. | Please, sit down. Tell about yourself first. |
| شكرا. درست الهندسة وعندي خبرة عمل سنتين. | шукран. дэрасту аль-хандаса ва-ʿиндии хибрат ʿамаль санатаин. | Thank you. I trained as an engineer and have two years of work experience. |
| لماذا تبحث عن عمل جديد؟ | лимааза табхасу ʿан ʿамаль джадид؟ | Why are you looking for a new job? |
| أريد مهامّ أكبر ومسار مهني أوضح. | урииду махиамм акбар ва-масаар михний абхад. | I want bigger tasks and a clearer career path. |
| فترة تجريبية ثلاثة أشهر. هل تناسبك؟ | фитра таджриибийя саляасат ашхур. халь тунаасибук؟ | The trial period is three months. Does it suit you? |
| تناسبني. متى أبدأ؟ | тунаасибуни. матаа абдаʾ؟ | It suits me. When do I start? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Arabic in this situation?
“تفضل, اجلس. حدث عن نفسك أولا.” (тафаддаль, иджлис. хаддис ʿан нафсик аввальан.) — Please, sit down. Tell about yourself first. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.